


The Blood You Bleed

by Arithese



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Additional Warnings Apply, Alternate Universe - College/University, Asexual Stanley Uris, Bisexual Richie Tozier, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Gen, Good Parents Maggie & Wentworth Tozier, M/M, Modern Day, No clowns in this story, Panic Attacks, Richie Tozier-centric, Sexualities, Underage Drinking, friendships, sonia is a bitch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:13:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28796694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arithese/pseuds/Arithese
Summary: Richie and Eddie meet in college.
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay before starting this story I want to be clear I’m not from the US. My knowledge about education systems is from either the media or fics I’ve read. So this will end up being a weird mixture of my own Dutch University experience and what I know about the US one.
> 
> Also, I left out some potential TW tags because they have massive spoilers that I don’t want to spoil prematurely but I will absolutely put a TW in front of the chapters when applicable. If I miss a TW, please let me know! There are some minor TW at the end as well. 
> 
> And if you really want to know beforehand, you can find me on Tumblr or FF.net and PM me.
> 
> Now without further ado, onto the chapter!

“Get up.” Bev chuckles, throwing her jacket onto Richie. The curly haired boy startles, eyes snapping open and glancing up at Bev with a frown.

“Why?” Richie groans, rubbing the sleep from his eyes before reaching for his glasses.

“Ben just invited me for a party, and you’re coming with me.” Bev says, opening her closet and roaming through it. Richie watches her with a curious gaze, seeing her pick up certain outfits, some self-made, some simply bought from the stores, before putting it back in the closet.

Richie smirks at that. “What, you’re too afraid to be with your handsome boyfriend?” Richie says, and Bev snorts. “Need me to make a good icebreaker?”

“Like tripping over the carpet with all those drinks?” Bev shoots back, and Richie shrugs.

“Not my fault you didn’t put those pads under it.” Richie says, smirking at the memory. He had indeed, quite literally, face planted into Bev’s brand new carpet. Luckily they had managed to get it all out, but it certainly wasn’t the best way to be introduced to Ben, or anyone really.

Ben was of course a total sweetheart about it, and even helped clean it up. He was a keeper, Richie could see that, and there weren’t many he trusted around Bev.

“It’s not a party per se, more like a small gathering, to celebrate the end of the semester,” Bev eventually continues, and Richie looks at her with a thoughtful look. It sounded a bit possessive in his mind, that he didn’t trust a lot of guys around Beverly, but it wasn’t like _that_ at all. They weren’t even dating. They hooked up at the beginning of the year sure.

They met at the very first party the University had, both of them enjoying the party as much as they could with no real friends yet. Beverly didn’t remember much from that night, only that she woke up with a hangover the next day in her own bed, and Richie roaming around in her apartment.

Needless to say, she had freaked out.

Bev sighs loudly, an amused grin. “For fuck sake Richie, you know what I’m talking about.” Bev exclaims, and Richie cackles.

“Of course I do miss Marsh, you want me to be there to break the ice, run my motormouth to avoid anything awkward,” Richie laughs, tipping an imaginary hat. “Not that that’s likely red, you’re quite charming sometimes.”

Beverly rolls her eyes, turning back to the closest and digging through it again.

The first memory of the _real_ Beverly Richie had wasn’t a pleasant one, or one he wanted to remember. The punch had been spiked by someone at the party, and he was just lucky he got to Bev first. And sure that was only because she was really hot, but to this day he was glad he was there.

When Richie noticed Bev was too drunk to be coherent, he had painstakingly managed to get her address and bring her home. The next day she had no recollection of what happened, and assumed they had gone all the way that night, which in hindsight was a logical conclusion.

“What’s so funny?” Bev asks absently, and Richie looks up, chuckling again.

“Just thinking about that morning at the beginning of the year.” Richie says, and Bev looks puzzled for a moment before she rolls her eyes.

“Oh my God.” She mumbles, but can’t suppress a laugh. How could she forget waking up to Richie in his underwear and wearing only _her_ bathrobe on top, digging through her barely stocked pantry to find some food. “I still wonder what the fuck you were thinking.” She shakes her head, finally taking out a shirt.

“Trust me, so do I.” Richie laughs at the memory. It had sure been _something_ to calm Bev down, and to finally allow him to explain that nothing had happened that night, and that Richie had slept on the ground that night. They had been friends ever since, and incredibly close to each other.

Neither of them having any desire to hook up with each other.

“Throw me a clean shirt then,” Richie says, and Bev pulls open one of the drawers, glancing at Richie’s outfit before throwing him a shirt to match his pants. “Merci beaucoup.” Richie salutes, not bothering to get out of the room to change, they were too close to give any fucks about that.

And luckily Bev didn’t have to worry about a roommate either, since she didn’t _have_ any. She was one of the few that managed to snatch a single room, but only because of the whole ideal with her dad. Richie didn’t know all the details, knew Bev hated to talk about her childhood and growing up.

But he knew enough to understand why she requested a single room, and why the University allowed it.

Richie had managed to room with Stan in a two bedroom dorm. The two had been friends since they were toddlers, and had managed to get into the same University in California. Being best friends it was a no brainer that they would try to bunk together, especially with Stan’s tendencies to be neat.

And Richie already being used to that.

“How many will be there?” Richie asks, gazing at the mirror to try and brush out his unruly curls.

“Ben didn’t say, but not many,” Bev says, pushing Richie out of the way to claim the spot in front of the mirror.

“Good, I can only ‘woo’ so many people at once, gotta make a good impression on everyone.” Richie laughs, wordlessly handing Bev her mascara before walking back to the couch he had been sleeping on not 10 minutes ago, and picking up her jacket, sitting down himself.

It wasn’t even a big apartment, if you could even call it that to begin with.

A queen sized bed was pushed in the far right corner, a couch on the left wall. A big closet on that same wall but on the left. There was a small kitchen on the right, and an equally tiny bathroom behind that. Barely fitting a shower, sink and a toilet. But it was Bev’s, and one she didn’t need to share with anyone.

She even had a balcony, the door in between the bed and the couch. Which she and Richie had exploited plenty of times.

“I’m glad Ben already knows you,” Bev snorts and Richie gasps dramatically, but he didn’t react to the jab. He just watched absently as Bev quickly got ready, reapplying some of her makeup and fixing her hair, that could be just as unruly as Richie’s hair but wasn’t because she knew how to style.

And before Richie knew, they were on their way.

*

*

*

“You made it.” Ben beams, a bright smile on his face as Bev initiates the hug, which he gratefully accepts.

“Bennie-boy, I missed you too!” Richie cries out, stepping in to hug Ben, which the boy was more or less used to right now with how many times he had seen Richie, but he never could truly get used to Richie’s presence, not in a bad way. Ben chuckles, returning the hug with a kind smile on his face.

“Come in, everyone is here except Eddie,” Ben talks, turning around and walking into the dorm room. Richie whistles, digging his hands in his pockets as they walk after the boy and into the room. Bev grins, brushing against Richie as they do, and Richie rolls his eyes, hitting her back.

The apartment looked a lot like the one Stan and Richie lived in. There were two rooms to the left, no doubt to the bedrooms, and another room at the end that had to be the bathroom. On the right there was a big table with 4 seats and in the far corner there was a big corner sofa, a TV on the wall.

In the far right corner was the kitchen, just as small as theirs.

“Sup everyone!” Richie grins, waving at the people standing around the room. Bev was right, there weren’t many, small gathering of close friends it seemed like. Apart from Ben there were two other boys, a tall brunette, and a darker skinned boy, who both looked at them when they entered the room.

“Y-You must be R-Richie,” The brunette spoke, and Richie was slightly surprised for a moment at the stutter, but he quickly brushed it off, nodding.

“The one and only, people call me trashmouth sometimes, but if you ask me they’re just too pissy to appreciate my golden voice.” Richie grins, tapping his Adam’s apple as if it made any sense.

“I told you Bill.” Ben beams, and Bill chuckles.

“I t-thought you were ex-. execrating,” He says, shaking his head.

“Just beep him when he gets too out of hand, so do I.” Bev smirks.

“I’ve been betrayed.” Richie groans, clutching his heart.

“H-Hey Bev.” Bill greets, and it was obvious the two have met before.

“Hi guys,” The darker skinned boy introduces himself, walking up to him with a beer in his hand. “I’m Mike, it’s nice to finally meet you Beverly, Ben told us a lot about you. And you too Richie.”

“Of course he did, we had a lot of fun last night in bed.” Richie laughs and Bev rolls her eyes, hitting him in the ribs.

“And that is when you beep him.” She laughs, shoving at Richie.

“Rude,” Richie pouts and Mike seems to be taken aback for a moment as well. Richie glances around the room, eyes quickly settling on a guitar that was in the corner of the room. “Who plays?” He asks, gesturing to the instrument. Bill frowns slightly, glancing at the guitar before shrugging.

“I t-tried, but gave up.” He says, and Richie glances at him with hopeful eyes.

“Can I?” He asks, and Bill shrugs again, nodding. Richie beams, walking over to the guitar and picking it up, stroking his fingers across the strings. He smiles softly at the sound, getting a feel of the instrument before starting to play. “So you two live here?” He asks as he notices the otherwise silence, and Mike shakes his head.

“Oh no, I don’t live here, he does,” Mike says, gesturing to Bill.

“Then who else lives here? I know for a fact Benny-Boy doesn’t.” Richie frowns, and as if on cue, one of the doors to the bedrooms open, and another boy walks out. Richie’s mouth drops open, looking at the boy walking out, and a grin quickly appears on his face, eyeing up and down.

The boy was cute, even _he_ could see that with his fucked up vision. He had brown hair, and he was _short_ , and just so cute. Freckles dotted the area around his face and there was a certain look in his eyes, on his face that was just so adorable.

“Wowza,” Richie breathes out, huffing out a breath and pausing his fingers for a moment.

“Since when do you say ‘wowza’?” Bev raises an eyebrow, glancing between Richie and Eddie. Richie takes a moment to shake off his surprise, glancing at Bev almost reluctantly.

“I am a changed man, Bev.” He breathes out, turning back to Eddie. “Who is this cutie?” He waggles his eyebrows, and his smile only brightens even more when a scowl appears on Eddie’s face.

“Ben told me you were a trashmouth,” The boy counters, and Ben just smiles innocently. Not like Richie could ever blame the boy.

“Been telling everyone about your kink huh?” Richie chuckles.

“Aaand that would be my cue to beep him,” Bev cuts in. “Beep beep.” She adds for good measure, but Richie waves her off.

“Richie Trashmouth Tozier, at your service cutie.” Richie bows a little, very dramatically..

“Eddie, Eddie Kaspbrak.” Eddie says, raising an eyebrow. There was something intriguing about the boy at the same time, despite the fact that he was very _present_. That was the only word Eddie could find to describe him right now.

“Well Eddie Eddie Kaspbrak, nice to meet you,”

“You know that’s not my name.” Eddie snorts, turning to Ben instead. “Seriously, you were _not_ kidding.”

Ben shrugs. “I warned you.” He says. “Do you want something to drink baby?” He asks, looking at Bev.

“Yes please.” Richie grins, winking at Ben who just smiles at him. Bev walks over to the kitchen with Ben in tow, and Bill and Mike turn to the dinner table to make room for some snacks. Leaving Eddie alone with Richie.

“All jokes aside though, I know I can be a lot at first, sorry if I was too-” Richie says, face turning serious and gesturing a bit with the hand that wasn’t holding the guitar. But to his relief, Eddie shrugs.

“Ben did warn me, but it’s fine.” Eddie says, sitting down on the edge of the couch. “So you play?” He asks, and instantly Richie brightens, nodding. He looks down at the guitar, adjusting his hold slightly and starting to play again. It wasn’t even a complicated song, one he recently learned to play.

But it seemed to please Eddie, and a smile appears on his face, watching Richie’s fingers as they struck the chords, listening to the music.

“You’re really good.” Eddie murmurs, feeling a strange sense of calmness wash over him. Richie chuckles.

“I hope so, it’s what I’m studying after all.” Richie says, and Eddie gapes at him.

“You’re a music major?” He asks, and Richie nods.

“Which is pretty stupid in hindsight, and my parents certainly weren’t happy with my decision but oh well, can’t please ‘em all.” Richie shrugs, tickling on the guitar a little more. “So what about you? What’s a cutie like you studying?”

“Stop saying I’m cute,” Eddie frowns, which only made Richie grin brighter. “But I’m studying to become a nurse, first year.”

“Aw shit, cutie is ambitious.” Richie exclaims, and Eddie scowls at the repeated nickname. “But shit Eds, that’s awesome, you must be like crazy smart.”

“I just worked really hard I guess, I wanted to get away from my hometown as far as possible,” Eddie says, and this time it’s Richie’s turn to frown.

“How come?” Richie asks. Eddie shrugs, waving off Richie.

“Just some bullshit with my mom, I guess it’s partially the reason why I decided to study medicine, because my mom would hate it.” Eddie says, and Richie laughs, throwing his head back.

“That’s the spirit Eddie Spaghetti, you go tell ‘er.” Richie laughs, and Eddie chuckles, feeling a sense of excitement at the way Richie encouraged him.

They continued to chat about nothing too significant before Mike came over to get them some drinks and invite them to the table.

*

*

*

“Eddie spaghetti!” Richie cheers loudly, moving down the stairs and sitting down next to Eddie. The smaller boy startles, eyes going wide and looking at the other boy. There was a moment of confusion, before his expression morphs into anger.

“You’re stalking me asshole?” Eddie frowns, scowling as Richie unzips his backpack, taking out his laptop and putting it on the table in the lecture hall, adjusting his glasses for a second.

“No I’m here for the lecture,” He says, opening his laptop and dropping his bag.

“A psychology lecture for a music major?” Eddie hisses, turning around as someone shushed him behind him. “Shush yourself.” Eddie snaps, and Richie laughs.

“Such a little spitfire,” Richie murmurs. “But no, it’s one of my elective classes for dentistry.” Richie shrugs, whispering to at least avoid another shushing.

“Fuck off Richie.” Eddie hisses, reaching for his bag and ready to get up. Richie laughs, reaching out for his wrist and pulling him back into his seat. Eddie lets out a loud ‘oof’, not strong enough to resist.

“Just listen Spageds, I’m not messing with you-”

“You said you were a fucking music major.” Eddie hisses, face full of annoyance.

“I am! But I’m also studying dentistry, I do both.” He laughs, and Eddie frowns, anger disappearing slightly. Richie sighs. “I swear to you, I’m doing both.” There was still an amusing smile on his face, but a sincere expression on his face. Eddie stills, no longer thinking about bolting.

His eyes trail over Richie’s face, still frowning slightly, the sound of the teacher speaking drowned out.

“You’re serious?” Eddie asks, raising an eyebrow. “Cause I swear to God if this is some weird flirting method I’m going to be so mad.” He adds all too quickly, and Richie shakes his head.

“I promise it’s not Eds, I might be a trashmouth but I’m not _that_ bad.” Richie chuckles, shaking his head. Eddie stares at him for a little longer, before he huffs, deciding it wasn’t worth it and turning back to the lecturer instead. Richie gazes at him for a little longer, eyes looking at the freckles on his face.

The small frown that stayed on his face, the way his brown hair curled at the top, almost unruly. And just so incredibly cute.

“You want to go for a cup of coffee?” Richie asks the moment the lecturer ended, as they were packing up. Eddie glances at him, thinking for a moment before shrugging.

“Sure, why not?” Eddie says, and Richie grins brightly. “Don’t get any ideas.” He deadpans, and Richie grins cheekily, holding up his hands as a sign of defeat. Eddie rolls his eyes again, picking up his bag and walking out of the lecture hall with Richie behind him.

“So you’re doing two bachelors?” Eddie asks as they walk over the campus grounds, over to the nearest coffeeshop. Richie hums and for a moment Eddie can only glance at the boy with poorly concealed awe. He was a dork, an absolute dork, but there was something so appealing about him.

Richie’s entire nature just had this openness, that was the only way Eddie seemed to be able to describe it.

Richie’s whole nature was open, welcoming for others. His goofy grin that held no judgement, the big coke bottles that were pushed on his face, his unruly curly hair that seemed to have no pattern in them but strangely worked. There were faint freckles along his nose, highlighted in the sun.

“It wasn’t like an actual legit compromise cause I really wanted to do both bachelors as well,” Richie says, holding open the door for Richie as they walked in. “But my pops certainly disapproved of my first bachelor when I told him.” Richie laughed, turning to the barista to take his order, stepping aside to let Eddie do the same.

Eddie got a simple cup of coffee, with Richie getting one of the specials of the month.

“So you’re like a genius or something?” Eddie asks as they both sit down somewhere in the back of the shop, near the window and gazing out on the campus grounds. It was still begin February but there was a bright sun outside, providing the area with a pleasant warmth that caused many to go outside.

Richie chuckles, shaking his head. “Nah nothing like that, I’m an idiot on all other aspects.” Richie waves off. “Besides, don’t sell yourself short Eds, you’re in the same class as me, that’s gotta mean _something_.” He muses, and Eddie could see Richie’s eyes watching him, going up and down for a moment.

“Yeah I guess, but I had to work hard for this scholarship-”

“Shit you got a whole ass scholarship?” Richie asks, bewilderment clear on his face. Eddie frowns slightly, nodding as he took a sip of his coffee, shivering slightly as he felt the liquid touch his tongue.

“Yeah otherwise I don’t think I would be here,” Eddie murmurs, and Richie quiets down a bit, almost unnoticeable. He raises a quiet eyebrow. Eddie sighs. “I mentioned my mom right?” Eddie asks.

Richie nods, taking a sip of his own drink. “Fuck you mom I’m studying medicine? That mom?”

“What other mom?” Eddie scowls, and Richie shrugs sheepishly. “But yes, that mom.” Eddie says, taking another reluctant sip as a way to collect his thoughts.

“You don’t have to tell if you don’t want to Eddie.” Richie says softly at that, sensing Eddie’s discomfort, and the smaller boy smiles gratefully at him. Richie probably would’ve crashed to the ground if he was standing, because that look was just so precious and adorable.

“Long story short, my mom is insane and I needed to get away, so I focused on school and managed to uphold decent GPA to get me a full scholarship here. Which she was _not_ happy about.” Eddie says, and much to his surprise, Richie giggles, actually goddamn giggles and for a moment Eddie goes silent.

It was such an adorable sound, and Eddie flushes.

“You never fail to surprise me with that spitfire attitude.” Richie laughs, and Eddie _tries_ to scowl, hoping that it comes across as convincing.

“You’ve known me for 2 days asshole.” Eddie fires back, which only caused Richie to grin even wider.

“Technically three, that party was on Saturday.” Richie states as a matter of fact, and Eddie grumbles, taking another big sip in protest. “So how long have you known Bill and co?” Richie asks instead, still grinning softly as he mimics Eddie by taking a sip as well, hissing at the heat he was _not_ expecting.

Eddie snorts at that, rolling his eyes in a way that made Richie think of Stan a little too much.

“I knew Bill when I was a baby, we grew up in the same street,” Eddie starts, smiling softly. “He was basically the only one my mom let me hang out with, we’ve been friends ever since. He even went with me to California.”

“He sounds like a keeper.” Richie smiles and Eddie nods.

“I met Mike at an introduction thing, he’s studying to become a vet, and he knew Ben, it’s been the four of us until-”

“Until Ben met Bev.” Richie chuckles, and Eddie nods again.

“Gosh I remember him being _so_ lovestruck when he told us, he was a mess,” Eddie smiles at the memory.

“He’s a sweetheart honestly, they’re cute together.” Richie comments. Eddie giggles, and Richie could basically feel his heart swoon at the sound.

“So what about you?” Eddie asks, glancing down at his almost forgotten coffee cup, and taking a dutiful sip. Richie looks down for a moment, his grin slipping for a moment before he shrugs.

“Nothing really interesting, I grew up 30 minutes from here with my parents, single child,” Richie says, putting up the grin again. “Wasn’t the most popular one in school but I had Stan, I mean we’ve taken bubble baths together, we can’t get any closer than that.”

“How old _were_ you?” Eddie asks, raising an eyebrow.

“17 years, why?” Richie asks, a completely serious expression on his face. And for a moment Eddie can do nothing but gape, until Richie barks out a laugh, smiling widely. “No we were like 6 years old, before puberty came knocking at our door.” Richie winks at Eddie and the smaller boy can just sigh.

And for the rest of the… whatever they would call this they talked more about their lives, most superficial. Richie told Eddie all about Stan, and the shenanigans he pulled back in high school, always with Stan at his side to ‘beep’ him when he got too out of hand, which Eddie could definitely see happening.

They talked about their experience at university, how Eddie experienced being away from home for the first time, and being at the other side of the country really, avoiding the topic of Eddie’s dad, which Richie could sense was a sensitive topic. They talked about Richie’s experience of growing up in California.

And before either of them knew it, hours had passed.

*

*

*

_A few weeks later_

“I can’t believe you dragged me here-” Eddie complains, dragging his feet to the front of the house. Bill laughs softly, pushing Eddie from behind and more towards the door.

“To have f-fun Eddie.” Bill chuckles. “You can’t go through your first year of University w-without a house party-”

“It’s not even the end of the year Bill.” Eddie laughs, and Bill shakes his head.

“Yet.” He retorts playfully, turning back as they reach the front door. It wasn’t even closed, and they could just walk right in, immediately engulfed by loud music and people dancing and walking around. The clear smell of alcohol, sweat and cigarettes lingered in the room, and for a moment Eddie scrunches up his nose.

There was a reason he had never been to these house parties, but Bill has _insisted_ for some reason.

“Let’s g-go find Bev, Richie and S-Stan- '' Bill shouts over the noise, and a knowing sigh escapes Eddie’s mouth. _So this was that unknown reason_. Eddie let himself be dragged to the kitchen, grabbing something to drink before looking further, until they eventually stumbled across Stan.

The boy was sitting on the couch, an amused look on his face as he watches the dance floor, sipping from the usual red cup.

“Stan!” Bill cheers, grinning as he drags Eddie further and towards the curly haired boy. Stan smiles softly, greeting the two. Bill had met Stan at another event, and after learning he was good friends with Richie and Bev, the 7 of them had started to hang out more and more, forming one big group.

And especially Bill and Stan became good friends really quickly.

“Why are you on the couch?” Eddie asks, but he too sits down, sipping from his cup.

“I’m babysitting,” Stan deadpans, gesturing to the dance floor. Eddie and Bill both glance over to the floor, and for a moment they couldn’t see it but eventually they could spot the fury red locks of Bev, dancing wildly with Richie’s gangly body next to her. They were both dancing wildly, bright grins on their faces.

Both Eddie and Bill laugh at the sight, and Bill shakes his head, turning back to Stan. Eddie’s gaze lingers for a moment, not on Bev but on Richie. He can feel heat creeping into his cheeks, silent for a moment as he stares at Richie. The way he smiled, the way his body moved.

How attrac-

“Earth to Eddie-” Stan laughs, snapping Eddie out of his daze and proceeding to stick his tongue out to him. “Have your gay panic somewhere else.”

“If you finally have the guts to ask Patty out.” Eddie shoots right back, and Stan shrugs, _guilty as charged_. It was almost weird how close they had all gotten in the past month with each other but he didn’t really need to know Stan long to realise how perceptive the boy was towards them.

It had taken 2 hang out sessions for Stan to realise Eddie’s embarrassing crush on Richie that was still growing strong.

“Eddie Spaghetti!” Someone suddenly yelled behind him, and Eddie startles slightly, turning around just fast enough to see Richie climbing over the couch in a mess of gangly limbs.

“How drunk are you?” Eddie snaps, and Richie hastily climbs to a normal sitting position.

“I’m just having fun Eds.” Richie grins, taking a sip out of the cup he miraculously managed to keep from spilling during his own tumble. Eddie rolls his eyes at that, but he doesn’t comment on it. “Not like I’m complaining here but why are you here?” Richie continues, and Eddie shrugs.

“Bill dragged me here, I have no idea why-” Eddie says, which was a big lie of course. He _knew_ why Bill wanted to go here, not for him because he already had Audra. But for him, because just like Stan, Bill was also painfully aware of his crush. And just like Stan he continuously pushed to tell Richie.

But why would Richie be into _him_? He was by no means the most popular guy on campus but many knew him, and it wasn’t a secret that many were into him as well. He could get any girl he wanted, any boy he wanted. So why the heck would he settle for Eddie when he could get so much better?

“Eddie you made it!” Bev cheers loudly as she too came over to the couch, letting herself fall head first over the railing of the couch. Richie laughs at that.

“Not the most flattering position miss Marsh,” He teases, and Bev slaps his arm, clumsily pushing herself over the railing and falling onto Richie. Eddie was just glad she didn’t have a drink anymore, or it would’ve no doubt spilled. “Here-” Richie grins down at her, handing her the drink.

“Don’t you think she had enough?” Eddie asks Richie but Bev already took it, downing the glass. Richie turns to Eddie but he freezes as he notices how close they were. Richie’s eyes widened, and Eddie could only now fully appreciate that he was wearing contacts instead of his normal glasses.

His glasses were endearing sure, but there was something so appealing about him not wearing them. His eyes seemed to be more expressive, brown eyes filled with wonder it seemed like, and for a moment Eddie dared to imagine it was wonder for him, that that emotion was directed at him.

Even if he knew that was bullshit.

His freckles stood out way more without the glasses obstructing them, and the light affected by his glasses. Eddie couldn’t really describe it other than that Richie looked different, in a good way. And for a moment he was stuck there, unable to move away from Richie’s gaze, staring at them.

“Let’s play a game!” Bev suddenly shouts, standing up suddenly and causing Richie to break eye contact. Eddie almost groans, he loved Bev but damn-.

She dragged both Richie and him towards the table, putting down a few empty cups for the stress pong. It wasn’t a game he had ever heard of before, but it was kind of similar to beer pong, except that you had two empty cups, and the alcohol filled ones in the middle of the table.

The four of them joined the table, Richie standing on Eddie’s right and Bev next to him. Stan and Bill were left from Eddie, with three more unknown kids joining as well. Eddie was just grateful he was sober when Richie explained how the game worked, because he was sure he wouldn’t understand otherwise.

The rules were really simple. Richie started with a pingpong ball and one empty cup, and the unknown girl on the opposite side had that as well. You had to bounce the ping pong ball into the empty cup, which was a lot harder than it seemed, and then pass it on to the person on your left.

If the other cup reached you before you could pass it on, you had to drink. So it was a fast-paced game that only got worse the more you drank; _stress_ pong.

Richie was somehow a pro at the game, not even having to drink once during the game, and because of it, but also because Eddie could _not_ get that ball in the cup, he had to drink a lot. Not enough to get wasted, but he soon felt the familiar buzz of alcohol in his system, pleasant almost.

Bev was cut off from the game by Richie after the second consecutive round where she got the cup, as she could not get the ball in as well. She was even worse than Eddie, but it was clear she was drunk. But Eddie found himself smiling nonetheless, enjoying himself, especially every time Richie brushed against him.

“Dance?” Richie asks with a big grin as the game was over, and Eddie nods, throwing caution in the wind. “Imma get a drink, you want one as well?” Richie asks, and Eddie scowls.

“Is that a good idea?” Eddie asks with raised eyebrow, and Richie laughs again.

“You only live once Eddie Spaghetti, unless you’re a cat-” Richie dances away, saluting Eddie before working his way through the crowd.

“I can’t believe I have a crush on that-” Eddie mutters to Bill, and Bill snickers.

“I c-can, he’s your type,” Bill says, and Eddie raises an eyebrow, staring at Bill. “Tall, gangly, p-pale, funny, into boys-” Bill says knowingly, snickering again as if he was daring Eddie to go against it when they all knew he was speaking the truth.

“Okay fine,” Eddie huffs, pouting slightly.

“And he’s a total sub,” Bev winks at him, swaying slightly. Stan chuckles, catching Bev before she could stumble, and she wraps her arms around him from the side, nuzzling into him.

“At least he said cat and not pussy,” Stan snickers next to him. “He has said that before.”

“I’ve also done that before-” Richie laughs as he comes up to them, carrying two red cups and handling one to Eddie. The smaller boy flushes at the remark, turning away quickly. He wasn’t jealous or anything, it was just … _too_ much to think about Richie having sex, girl or boy didn’t matter.

Richie seemed oblivious to Eddie’s struggle, reaching out to grab Eddie’s wrist and dragging him towards the dance floor.

The rest of them follow as well, Stan keeping a close eye on Bev as they go. But she was still bubbly, ready to dance. They danced for a long time, and as much as Eddie hated parties, he found that he didn’t mind these too much. He had fun with his friends, dancing and brushing against Richie from time to time.

The song changed, and Eddie almost blushes as the song got a little more _sensual_. But Bev breaks through the awkwardness all too quickly, laughing and dancing over to Richie, who accepted the offer without a second thought. He took her hands, dancing along with her, and laughing the entire time.

The red cup was held high, strangely enough not even spilling. Richie twirled Bev, and the girl laughs, turning and stumbling until she was back with Stan. Richie didn’t think, grabbing Eddie’s hand and starting to dance. Eddie’s eyes widened, staring up at Richie but the boy seemed equally mesmerised.

As if they were back on the couch again.

Richie raises Eddie’s around, forcing him to turn around so one arm is around his chest. Both boys freeze at the position they were in, and it was like the music suddenly fell away. Eddie was all too aware of Richie pressed up against his back, the music and alcohol still all too present.

Richie releases a shuddering breath behind him, and they stayed there for a moment, dancing slightly until Eddie turns around, hands on Richie’s chest and he looks up. Richie was blinking down at him, face as expressive as ever, and Eddie didn’t really think about it, only acted.

He leans forwards, pushing his lips against Richie’s, but pulling back immediately.

His eyes widen, an apology already on his tongue, his feet already shifting to run away, but Richie prevented it the moment he grabbed Eddie’s face, so gently, before surging forwards, kissing Richie back. Eddie wasn’t even sure if it was technically kissing _back_ but he didn’t care, closing his eyes.

He groans, wrapping his arms around Richie’s neck to pull him down further, and Richie whimpers in his mouth, which shoots his blood straight down. Eddie lost everything, time, hearing, everything fell away and it was only them it seemed like, nothing else mattered at that moment.

Eventually Richie had to pull away, lungs screaming at him to get more air. Both of the boys were breathing heavily, staring at each other.

Richie leans down again, kissing Eddie again, softer this time. He breathes in, and Eddie whimpers in his mouth. Richie pulls away, leaning in close.

“Go somewhere more private?” He asks, and Eddie blushes, blood rushing straight down for the second time that night. His eyes widen, staring up at Richie. The boy took his hand, squeezing softly and Eddie squeezed back, allowing Richie to lead him away from the dancefloor.

They ended up in the hallway upstairs, Richie leaning in again the second most of the music was drowned out. Richie moaned in Eddie’s mouth, and Eddie feels a little bit of confidence grow, pushing Richie back until his back was against the wall, which only caused Richie to moan again, harder this time.

 _So Bev was right about the sub part_ , Eddie snickers to himself, kissing Richie more aggressively. Richie wraps his arms around Eddie’s waist, and Eddie freezes as he feels the red cup against him, suddenly pulling away.

“Shit we can’t-” Eddie breathes out, still heaving slightly. Richie’s face crumbles, frowning.

“Why not?” He asks, mind swirling all of a sudden. Had he done something wrong? Did he read this all wrong? No he couldn’t have, Eddie kissed him back right? But what if he didn’t want it? What if-

“You’re wasted, you’ve been drinking all night.” Eddie explains, reaching back for the cup to show Richie what he meant. Richie frowns for a moment before understanding dawns on his face and he throws his head back, laughing loudly.

“Oh my God Eds- I don’t know if I should be flattered or hurt by this.” Richie laughs loudly, wiping away imaginary tears before settling on grinning down at Eddie.

“What are you talking about?” Eddie frowns, feeling frustration bubble up. Richie just keeps grinning, untangling his arms from Eddie, which caused Eddie to pout, before handing Eddie the red cup.

“Taste it.” Richie says, nudging the cup, and Eddie takes a hesitant sip, almost jolting as the cold water hits his lips.

“It’s water-” Eddie mumbles, staring up at Richie before suddenly groaning, face scrunching up in embarrassment. “Shit you’re sober aren’t you?” Eddie groans, leaning forwards until his forehead was against Richie’s shoulder. Richie laughs, petting Eddie.

“It’s an honest mistake Eds, I’ve been cut off way too many times before-” Richie shrugs. “I’m glad you want to make sure I’m not too drunk though, it’s very cute, but also; you think I would feed Bev more alcohol in her current state?!” Richie cries out, fake hurt written all over his face.

Eddie scowls. “I don’t know, I thought you were drinking alcohol. It’s not a weird conclusion.” Eddie mutters, and Richie just grins.

“No it’s not-” He mumbles, reaching forwards and brushing a hand across Eddie’s face just seconds before leaning in again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW at the end!!

Richie doesn’t even wince as Eddie pushes him back against the wall again, surging forwards. Both of them groan, deepening the kiss. Richie’s hands settled on Eddie’s hips again, slowly trailing down and chuckling as they reached Eddie’s ass.

“Feels as good as it looks-” Richie murmurs, and Eddie scowl, pulling away to glare at Richie.

“You did _not_ just say that,” Eddie says, but Richie leans forwards again before either of them can say anything else. Eddie groans, reaching forwards and carting his hands through Richie’s hair. He shifted slightly, hands nestling in the unruly hair and Richie lets out another groan.

Eddie grins in this kiss, pulling a little on Richie’s hair which only caused the boy to moan loudly in his mouth. It only encouraged Eddie more, trailing down and nipping at Richie’s neck. He moans, tilting his head back to allow Eddie more access to his neck, and Eddie smiles at the reaction.

“Richie-” Stan’s voice suddenly interrupted them. Richie groans, out of annoyance right now instead of pleasure. He lingers for a moment, before sighing in annoyance again. “As much as I’m glad you two finally hooked up, Bev tapped out-” Stan says, and that was enough to explain to Richie what was going on.

Richie breathes in, sighing and looking up at Stan.

“I’ll be right there-” Richie says, turning back to Eddie. “Sorry Eds, duty calls. I promised Bev I’d get her home, but if you want… we can continue this later on?” Richie asks, and Eddie giggles against Richie, which made Richie’s heart swell. The sound was honestly just so adorable, and Richie kissed Eddie quickly again.

Just a split second before it was over, and he turned to Stan. Eddie smiles.

“It’s okay Richie, go to Bev. We can continue this… later-” Eddie chuckles, pushing Richie away. Richie lingers for a moment, reaching out and taking Eddie’s hand.

“At least let me escort you back to the dance floor m’lady.” Richie chuckles, dragging Eddie along before he could stop him, or before Eddie could get angry at the comment in the first place. Richie drags Eddie back, Stan walking along with them. It was easy to spot Bev, leaning against Bill.

Richie sighs, walking over to Bev and wrapping an arm around her waist.

“Hey baby girl-” Richie chuckles softly, and Bev looks up, almost startled. She whines, wrapping her arms around Richie’s form.

“Wanna go home.” Bev complains, and Richie smiles, nodding and looking up at the rest.

“You heard the lady, time to go.” Richie says, looking back at the rest of the club. Eddie was now standing next to Bill, and he knew Stan was okay with him leaving. “Adios fuckers.” Richie laughs, saluting the group before turning back to Bev, making sure she was okay before walking to the exit.

Bev could luckily still walk, which would’ve made things a lot more difficult if she couldn’t. It still took them close to 10 minutes to get to her apartment, and Bev was still leaning heavily against him as Richie took out the key and opened the door to her apartment, letting her in and closing the door behind them.

“No no no-” Richie laughs, stopping Bev as she immediately crashes on the couch. Bev groans, shaking her head.

“‘m sleeping here.” Bev huffs, and Richie smiles softly at that.

“We’re brushing our teeth.” Richie says, reaching for Bev’s hands and pulling her to her feet. Bev groans again, but allows Richie to drag her to the bathroom. Richie watches patiently as Bev does a poor job at brushing her teeth, and takes off her makeup, leaving as she goes to the toilet to get her pyjamas.

Bev didn’t speak as Richie carefully took off her dress, helping her into the oversized shirt just seconds before she literally dropped onto the bed, eyes already closed.

“You know the rules, drink some water first,” Richie laughs, already having a glass nearby and giving it to her. Bev groans, shaking her head.

“L’me sleep.” She groans, not even dignifying him with a glance. Richie sits down on the bed, pulling Bev up again with a soft laugh, allowing her to lean against him. Bev silently took the glass, dutifully dawning the entire glass before throwing it aside with another loud huff. Richie just snorts.

He was just lucky it was a plastic cup, but then again, he had expected Bev’s reaction. It wasn’t often that she went out to drink, but on some nights she did with the assurance that Richie or Stan would be there the entire time. She didn’t want to be alone, or with people she didn’t trust whilst drunk.

“How was Eddie’s mouth?” Bev asks softly against him, and Richie grins, looking down.

“You saw that?” He chuckles, and Bev smiles softly, but not looking up at him.

“‘bout time you two kissed-” Bev says, shaking her head before stopping with a groan. “Gay disasters.” She adds, and Richie chuckles along with her.

“You’re drunk Bev,” He laughs, and Bev stills for a moment, as if she was thinking.

“Shit I am-” Bev curses, only making Richie laugh even more. “I told Eddie you were a sub-” Bev suddenly whispers, eyes going wide.

“So that’s why he got so aggressive,” Richie says, turning to Bev, who was looking back at him with an almost alarmed expression. “I’m not mad you said that, it’s true right?” Richie tries to assure her, but Bev groans again, burying her face in his shoulder. There was a short silence between them.

And eventually Bev started shaking against him, and before he knew it, Bev was crying softly.

“Hey hey baby girl-” Richie tries, putting a hand on Bev’s cheek to force her to look at him. Bev tried to refuse, shaking her head but eventually gave in. “I’m not mad Bev, I don’t mind.” He says, not allowing for a discussion. Bev sniffles, wiping at her tears.

“‘m still sorry-” Bev whispers, and Richie chuckles, nodding knowingly. He looks up again, allowing Bev to snuggle back into his side. “We’d make a cute couple y’know?” Bev suddenly says, and Richie snorts, shaking his head.

“No thank you-” Richie retorts, fake retching. Bev chuckles against him, which Richie counted as a win. It was honestly fair game in how Bev would react to alcohol. Sometimes she got really happy, sometimes she would get really sad, and sometimes she would switch between emotions too quickly.

But Richie hated seeing Bev so sad, so he was glad she was laughing.

“My aunt once said... uhm-” Bev starts, frowning slightly as if she was thinking about what she wanted to say. “She said it was a shame you were gay-”

“I’m not.” Richie chuckles, and Bev shakes her head.

“I know I know-” Bev says hastily, waving her hand. “But my aunt.. she didn’t know at first when I said you had a boyfriend, and she told me it’s a shame you’re gay as you would be a good boyfriend.” Bev slurs slightly, looking up at Richie with a grin.

“Bev-” Richie starts, and Bev nods, almost innocently. “I was there when your aunt said that remember?” He says, barely able to keep himself from laughing. Bev’s face scrunches up.

“Oh yeah-” Bev whispers breathlessly, looking up at Richie. “But you’re not gay, you like girls… well not me but… _girls-_ ”

“Bev honey-” Richie laughs, shaking his head. “ _I_ told your aunt that.” He continues, patting her head in a comforting manner.

“Oh-” Bev mutters, and it was clear how exhausted she was. So Richie chuckles, allowing Bev to lay down on the bed and manoeuvring the blanket on top of her. Bev just curled up tightly, unaware of Richie leaving to brush his own teeth and put his pyjamas on before he crawled into the other side of Bev’s bed, on the wall side so Bev could get out of bed quicker.

And the bucket he put there before they even went to the party was also on her side.

“Thank you-” Bev whispers, but she was out before Richie could react.

*

*

*

He wasn’t too surprised when Bill opened the door, a sly grin appearing on his face.

“Eddie’s in h-his room-” Bill stutters, already stepping aside to let Richie in.

“Who says I’m here for him?” Richie grins, and Bill deadpans at him, causing Richie to chuckle. “Okay okay guilty as charged. But it’s good to see you too big Bill.” Richie laughs, holding out his fist to allow Bill to bump it, which he did.

“M-Movie night still on?” He asks, and Richie nods.

“Hell yeah.” Richie smiles, because of course it was. Just like he and Eddie, and Bill and Stan had started to become a lot closer, Richie was also growing closer and closer to Bill. And the two had already formed a close friendship together.

“Now go get y-your man.” Bill chuckles, nudging Richie, who happily obliged and walked into the apartment while Bill closed the front door behind them. Richie walked over to the door at the far left corner, stopping and lifting a hand to knock but the door suddenly opened, and Eddie stood in front of him.

Richie’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment, staring down at Eddie.

“Hi-” Richie whispers, a small grin on his face, looking up and down. Eddie was dressed in sweatpants, wearing a white shirt on top of it. his hair was messy, but he looked adorable, and he was looking up at him with such an innocent expression that Richie could’ve melted in a puddle right then and there.

“Everything okay?” Eddie asks instead, and Richie chuckles.

“Yeah why wouldn’t it be?” Richie asks, and Eddie shrugs, turning around and gesturing for Richie to come into the room. Richie glances back, seeing Bill quickly put his thumbs up, and Richie stuck his tongue out, walking into the room and closing the door behind him with a soft click.

Eddie’s room was as big as his, and a king bed was pushed in the corner of the room. The room was, unlike Richie’s room, very neat. The desk was organised, an agenda on top of it and books neatly stacked above it. He had a fairly big closet in the room, which together with the bed and desk didn’t leave much room anymore.

Richie whistles, looking around as Eddie walks to his desk, closing the book and looking at him.

“Bev was really drunk last night, and you left kind of fast.” Eddie says, and Richie rubs his neck.

“Yeah sorry about that-” Richie starts but Eddie shakes his head. “Can we go for coffee or something? My treat.” Richie continues before Eddie could say anything, and Eddie sighs, nodding.

“Just give me a few minutes to get ready.” Eddie says, and Richie nods. Richie chatted with Bill for a few moments as Eddie got ready, changing his outfit and brushing his teeth quickly before they were on their way.

“Is Bev alright though?” Eddie asks eventually as they walk into the coffee shop, continuing the conversation again. Richie nods, shrugging.

“Oh yeah she’s fine, she just wanted to go home, and I promised I’d go with her, but she’s fine.”

“No hangover?” Eddie asks, and Richie laughs loudly, shaking his head.

“Not at all, she never gets them, it’s so infuriating.” He complains, groaning in annoyance before turning to the barista and taking the same order as last time.

“How?! That’s so unfair-” Eddie huffs, taking the cup of coffee and walking to an empty table. “I’m stuck in bed for the entire day if I drink too much.” Eddie continues, plopping down on the chair. Richie grins, taking a satisfied sip and eyeing Eddie up and down again.

“I bet you’re a wonderful cranky patient.” Richie grins, and Eddie rolls his eyes.

“I only chewed Bill out twice for making too much noise too early-” Eddie retorts, crossing his arms.

“How early are we talking about here?” Richie raises an eyebrow, and Eddie busies himself with taking a sip.

“Irrelevant,” He huffs, causing Richie to grin knowingly. “But Bev is fine?” He changes the subject, and Richie lingers for a moment more before nodding.

“She’s fine, repaid me by making pancakes for me.” Richie says with a satisfied grin before turning serious. “But I’m really sorry for bailing yesterday Eds-”

“And I already told you it’s fine Richie, I get it.” Eddie brushes him off. “You were being a good friend, I can’t get mad at that. Disappointed, but not mad.”

“Yeah you liked my lips?” Richie grins, wiggling his eyebrows. Eddie groans, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I keep handing them to you on a platter-” He mutters more to himself that Richie but the curly haired boy just grins at that.

“You sure do Eddie Spaghett-”

“Still not my name asshole.” Eddie retorts, which Richie waves off quickly. “At least Bill was right about you-”

“Oh- did you and big Bill gossip about me?” Richie gasps, putting a hand on his chest for theatrical effect. Eddie rolls his eyes.

“As if you didn’t with Bev and Stan-” He retorts, and Richie shrugs because yeah, he did. And there was no point in denying that. “Bill said you liked me but I didn’t want to believe it cause I know you mentioned you dated that girl in high school.”

“Well that’s the good thing about being bisexual Eds, you get the superpower of being able to fall for both boys and girls.” Richie laughs, and Eddie scowls.

“I know that now obviously,” Eddie rolls his eyes, but an amused smile was on his face.

“So what about you?” Richie asks, staring intently at Eddie as he takes another sip of the coffee. Eddie frowns.

“What about me?”

“It’d be rude to assume your sexuality, even though you did with me but I’m not salty about that-” Richie chuckles, shrugging even though it was awfully clear that Richie was joking. Eddie scowls again, shaking his head.

“I’m gay, or at least I think so. I’m still kinda _new_ to all of this.” Eddie says, because he felt no need to hide this from Richie, not after swapping spit the other night. Richie’s eyes change to something more soft, a bit more vulnerable.

“That’s okay Eddie,” Richie says, and Eddie notices that Richie wasn’t calling him a nickname like he usually did. Even though Eddie was technically a nickname as well. “But no like… dramatic backstory there?” He was cautious, and Eddie wasn’t sure if he flattered by it or repulsed by the thought of his mom.

“Not really, Derry wasn’t the best place to grow up so I got a lot of homophobia thrown at me but not really personally as I wasn’t out. They just wanted to make sure I hated them as much as they did.” Eddie mutters softly, and Richie stays surprisingly silent.

He reached out almost hesitantly, putting a reassuring hand on Eddie’s, and the boy smiled at that. “They’re wrong y’know? There’s nothing bad about liking guys-” Richie says, and Eddie is almost startled at the raw emotion in Richie’s voice, almost like there was more to the story but all he could do was laugh.

Not out of spite for Richie, because he felt his heart swell that Richie wanted to make sure, but just the whole situation was so absurd.

“I know that now, I mean I never believed it really to begin with,” Eddie says, quieting down a bit. “But it’s still in my head y’know? Everything the town said, everything my mom said, I _know_ it’s bullshit but I can’t convince my brain for some reason.” Eddie tries to wave off but Richie frowns.

“That’s okay Eds, I mean obviously it’s not okay because fuck Derry for making you believe that, but it’s normal that they get inside your head-”

“Yeah but it’s stupid, I know they’re wrong, and I’ve had people do nothing but accept me when I tell them… and I still hesitate to tell them. I’m not like you I guess.” Eddie gnaws at his lip and Richie barks out a laugh.

“So you’re saying I’m that typical gay guy?” He asks in a teasing manner. “Or bisexual guy, but whatever.”

“No I’m not so accepting like you… or brave,” Eddie whispers, looking down but Richie shakes his head.

“You’re incredibly brave for standing up to yourself, don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.” Richie affirms, looking into Eddie’s eyes. “Besides, I wasn’t always like this, I struggled with it too.”

“You?” Eddie asks, raising an eyebrow and Richie laughs again.

“Damn don’t look so shocked Eddie Spaghetti.” He smiles, shaking his head. “But yes, I did. I mean I didn’t really _know_ about anything at first and when I started liking boys I thought there was something wrong with me. It took me a long time to accept that part of myself.”

“How did you?” Eddie asks, but Richie shrugs.

“I don’t know Eds,” He says. “I never thought labelling myself was too important, I liked dick and pussy, that was all great but I never attached a label to that until Stan asked. I guess bi fit the most.”

“It’s bullshit either way, like I get the importance to a lot of people but why does it matter so much?” Eddie snorts, and Richie shrugs.

“My thoughts exactly,” He says, looking back at Eddie. “And the most bullshit is when people want to know and then get offended when I tell them I’m bi.”

“Seriously?” Eddie scrunches his nose up, and Richie nods.

“Like it’s not even that it’s either girls or boys, but I’ve had bad experiences with both of them. I once had a girlfriend who broke up with me when I told her, because she said, and I quote; “You have more options to cheat”.” Richie snorts, shaking his head. “Which is honestly so fucking stupid because I could already cheat on three and a half billion people, what does the other half matter?”

“She actually said that?” Eddie almost exclaims, eyes widening. Richie chuckles softly, nodding.

“Which is like whatever, her choice, but it’s still so weird,” Richie says, downing the last bit of the coffee in the cup and frowning slightly. “I mean I get my experience isn’t the same but people here can be biphobic as well; I got cussed out as Pride when I went with my girlfriend. Which was… interesting-”

“You’ve been to Pride?” Eddie asks, surprise written on his face. Richie barks out another laugh, shaking his head with an amused smile on his face.

“You’re so adorable Eds,” Richie chuckles, ignoring Eddie’s scowl. “But yes, excellent take-away from that story, I did indeed go to Pride.” He finishes with a gleeful smile. Eddie scowls again, shaking his head.

“I’ve always wanted to go-” Eddie muses softly, and Richie smiles brightly.

“I’ll gladly go to Pride with you Eds,” He announces. “Not sure what I’ll tell your mom, she’ll be heartbroken that I have to cancel-”

“Beep beep Richie,” Eddie scowls and Richie laughs again.

“I have been betrayed by my dear Mrs. Marsh.” He exclaims, chuckling before continuing. They talked for a while longer, before Richie’s phone vibrated for a moment, and Richie glances down at it, frowning for a moment. A troubling look spread across his face.

“What’s wrong?” Eddie asks, and Richie groans loudly, pushing the phone back in his pocket.

“Group project, my group members can’t get off my ass.” Richie groans again, shaking his head. “Can we take a rain check on this date for now?” He asks, and Eddie frowns slightly, staring at Richie for a moment before shrugging off the suspicion of Richie’s reaction.

“So this was a date?” Eddie retorts, and for a moment Richie’s expression wavered before Eddie rolls his eyes. “We can call it that.” He chuckles, and a grin spreads across Richie’s face. They threw away their cups in the bin, walking outside and stopping for a moment, and Richie turned to Eddie.

They stared for a moment, and Richie’s breath hitches as Eddie’s brown eyes looked up at him, looking so innocent. Richie wasn’t sure who moved first, but they both leaned forwards, lips connecting. Richie groaned in the kiss, bringing a hand up to Eddie’s cheek and ghosting over the skin.

Eddie moves against him, settling a hand on either side and kissing back. It was gentle, unlike last time, yesterday. Richie was barely even touching him, but it was enough, and Eddie’s skin buzzed with excitement and he couldn’t help but smile in the kiss slightly, breaking it off inevitably.

Richie didn’t even seem to mind, staring at Eddie with wonder in his eyes. Eddie licks his lips, looking up behind his eyelashes.

“What… what are we?” Eddie dares to ask, and Richie grins brightly at him.

“Hella cute-” Richie snickers, leaning back in to kiss Eddie again, and the boy groans in the kiss, but not out of pleasure, our of annoyance. Or at least, that’s what he told himself.

“Richie-” Eddie drawls out, and Richie chuckles, breaking off the kiss. Something vulnerable made way for Richie’s confidence, and it seemed like he shrunk into himself, seemed less present than he usually was.

“I don’t know, what do you want to call it?” He asks, whispering. His lips were slightly swollen, panting a bit from the kissing, and he still looked so handsome.

“Boyfriend?” Eddie asks softly, reaching out for the hand on his cheek. Richie stared for a bit longer, just a couple of seconds before she smiles brightly, leaning back in.

He could live with being boyfriends.

*

*

*

“We are _not_ watching horror!” Eddie screeches, pushing at Richie and throwing his hands around. Richie laughs, bringing Eddie closer, for which he got pushed away again.

“But Eds~” Richie laughs, drawing out the word. “I want to hold you when you get scared.” He whispers lowly, and Eddie flushes with anger, eyes blazing.

“I do not get scared!” Eddie cries out, shaking his head. “I just don’t like horror movies, they’re cliche and badly made and-”

“Give you nightmares?” Richie teases, grabbing Eddie again to drag him onto his lap. Eddie groans, allowing Richie to do so and sitting down on his lap, legs on either side.

“I hate you.” Eddie mutters, and Richie laughs in Eddie’s neck, nipping softly and humming slightly. Because of course he did, which is exactly why Eddie groans, tipping his head back just slightly to give Richie more access to his neck.

“Get a room you two,” Stan almost scowls, nose scrunched up as he looks at the two. Richie nips at Eddie’s neck once more before almost reluctantly looking at Stan, sticking out his tongue for good measure. “But I agree with Eddie, we’re not watching horror.” He adds, deadpanning at Richie at the action.

Richie chuckles, shrugging slightly. He wasn’t too keen on horror himself anyways, not like he would reveal that to them, he knew neither of them liked horror either, and it was fun to watch them squirm. Although he was pretty sure Stan knew he didn’t like horror, and just didn’t say so.

Richie whines as Eddie crawls off his lap, but sits down beside him.

“Benny-boy my hero!” Richie suddenly cheers, watching as Ben and Bev walk into the apartment with two bowls of popcorn in their hands. Richie jumps up, taking a bowl and immediately claiming it for himself and Eddie. “What movie are we watching?” Richie asks, and Bev grins.

“Horror.” She suggests and Eddie groans loudly, shaking his head.

“I hate both of you-” He whines, throwing himself over Richie’s lap to grab the remote from the other side before Richie or Bev could claim it. “How about romance?” Eddie smiles gleefully, but Stan shakes his head.

“Absolutely not, I don’t need you two getting more horny.” Stan deadpans, and Richie gapes.

“That’s not fair! Benny is the one with a hickey right now-” Richie throws his arm towards Ben, who blushed furiously and just smiled as Bev pressed a kiss to his cheek, grinning back at Richie.

“Jealous?” She retorts, dragging Ben to the couch and sitting down as well. It was a tight fit with the four of them since the couch was only really meant for 3 people to begin with. Bev was pressed against Richie, and Ben was on the right side.. Stan was sitting on the outer part of the L-shaped couch, leaning against the wall next to Eddie.

Mike was on the floor resting against the couch where Ben was sitting, and Bill was getting the snacks for the movie still in the kitchen.

“Sorry Benny-boy as much as I’d love to have a go with you, I have Eddie now~” Richie teases, winking at Ben.

“I can live with that rejection.” Ben says softly, teasing as he wraps an arm around Bev’s shoulders. Richie grins, doing the same with Eddie, who was only focused on the screen now, scrolling through the netflix collection.

“How about Inception?” Mike asks as the movie showed on the screen.

“Oh man, I’m down for that, last time I was proper baked watching that, I didn’t understand it _at all_.” Richie laughs, and Bev grins knowingly.

“You poured milk over your head, of course you didn’t.” Stan laughs, and Richie grins sheepishly.

“Why did you pour _milk_ over your head?” Mike asks, looking almost horrified at the story.

“I wanted to make him laugh but I hadn’t realised _someone_ didn’t put the lid on properly-” Richie retorts, shooting a glare at Bev. The redheaded girl grins, shrugging entirely unbothered.

“Not my problem.” She says, turning back to the television and taking a handful of popcorn from the bowl in front of her.

“So Inception?” Mike instead asks, directing the conversation back to the movie. The rest of the Losers agreed silently, and Eddie nodded, putting on the movie on Netflix. Eddie snuggles next to Richie, watching the movie next to him.

“He’s on your List right?” Ben asks softly, and Bev groans at the question, laughing as she hides her face in Ben’s hold. Richie laughs, taking his eyes off Leonardo DiCaprio on the screen. The rest of the Losers, minus Stan of course, seemed to be confused, not realising what Ben was talking about.

“What l-list?” Bill asks softly, glancing away from the screen for a short moment. Beverly groans again, whining softly but they could all see the smile on her face. She waits for a second, before slowly getting up, looking at them.

“We have a list--”

“ _You_ have a list.” Ben quickly corrects, and Bev flashes him a toothy grin, shrugging.

“ _I_ have a list of people I’m allowed to cheat on, Leonardo is one of them,” She explains, and Richie snorts, already too familiar with her list. “Jealous?” She whispers in Ben’s ear, and he shakes his head, looking at her. They’ve already had this conversation too many times, and they both knew she was joking.

So he went along with the joke, and it was admittedly kind of funny, besides, what were the chances of meeting them?

“So you don’t have a list Benny-boy?” Richie chuckles and Ben looks at him with a raised eyebrow. Ben was a sweetheart, but they both knew Richie knew about that list.

“I would never cheat on Beverly.” He states, and Bev grins brightly.

“Baaabe-” She draws out, wrapping her arms around him again with a loving smile, and Stan rolls his eyes, causing Bev to shoot him a middle finger. “C’mon you can’t deny he’s hot.” She retorts, and Stan shrugs.

“I can see he is handsome, yes.” He shoots back, and Bev just grins, turning back to the TV. The movie continued to play, and Richie glances at Stan as he takes out his phone, typing something, a small smile tugging at his lips.

“Are you texting Patty, Stanny?” Richie starts, and Stan shoots daggers at him, but Richie doesn’t back down, practically launching himself as Stan and falling over his lap, looking up at him. “Tell me everything.” He laughs, and Stan rolls his eyes.

“None of your business, but yes, it’s Patty.” He says, which only makes Richie grin wider.

“So have you guys hooked up yet? Done the _devil’s tango_?” Richie teases, and Stan’s nose scrunches up in disgust, pulling his leg back and pushing Richie off the couch, who tumbled to the ground. “Don’t worry Stanny manny, you’ll get it one day!” Richie laughs, looking up at Stan, who was still looking at him with disgust.

“Says the virgin,” He retorts, and Richie gapes, putting a hand on his heart and missing the _but no thanks_.

“Low blow Staniel, you wound me. I may never recover from this attack-” He cries out in fake hurt, and Stan just rolls his eyes, typing a message again. “Besides, I’ve been pleasured by Mrs. K plenty of times.” He adds, winking at Eddie, who just scowls at him.

“I can’t believe I’m dating a child,” He mutters, and Richie chuckles.

“Get off your high horse Eds, I’m like 3 months younger than you are-”

“Biologically maybe.” Eddie shoots back.

“Big oof.” Richie grins, not even fazed by the teasing. “Besides, I have you so I don’t need-” Richie stops when Eddie leans forwards, raking a hand through his curly hair and scratching slightly. Richie’s face immediately turns red, seemingly melting on the spot, and a low sound escapes his throat, leaning into the touch.

The remaining Losers turn to the display, and a grin appears on Bev’s face. “That’s one way to shut him up-” She giggles, and Ben glances at him with curious eyes.

“If I had known this was a way to quiet him down I would’ve used that before.” He comments, and Bev bursts out laughing, shaking her head.

“Honey no-” She laughs as Richie squirms on the spot, shifting slightly. Ben’s face flushes when he notices Richie’s reaction, the reason _why_ he was silent suddenly all too clear. Eddie laughs as well, letting Richie’s hair go, and pulling the taller boy into a hug. Richie melted into the embrace.

“You broke me-” He groans.

“Just a warning for next time.” Eddie whispers in his ear, causing Richie to blush even more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Richie helping Bev undress is a true story of my roommate who was so drunk once she could not even get that sticker bra thing off. .They were such good friends without it being romantic at all, and I really wanted to show how close Richie and Bev were.
> 
> Also; the experiences of any of these characters is not universal. Others may experience or react differently and that is all valid. This is just how I wrote these characters, based on personal experiences. 
> 
> TW: mention of homophobia & biphobia.
> 
> TW: talks about sexuality.
> 
> TW: underage drinking/drunkenness.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always; TW at the end!!

“Eddie?” Richie frowns, but Eddie immediately flings himself forwards, arms wrapping around him. “Woah!” Richie startles, stumbling for two seconds before regaining his balance. His eyes widen, trying to look down at Eddie but the shorter boy has his face buried in Richie’s chest, body shaking as a clear sign that he was crying.

“Eds?” Richie tries again but Eddie shook his head, letting out a sob. “Let’s just get you inside okay?” Richie whispers softly, eyeing out of the front door, that was still open wide. Eddie whimpers slightly as he was jostled, but Richie manages to shut the front door without letting go of Eddie, guiding him to the couch.

“Nobody’s home except for me, Stan is probably getting laid somewhere-“ Eddie cuts him off with a soft snort, which Richie took as a good sign. “Just let it out-“ He whispers, rubbing Eddies back to comfort him.

Richie has no idea how long it had been, but he doesn’t really care, holding Eddie tightly and softly rubbing his back as Eddie continued to shake against him, crying silently. Eventually Eddie sniffles softly, staying there for a few more seconds before pulling out of the hug, looking up to him with an almost guilty expression.

“Do you want something to drink?” Richie asks, and Eddie swallows thickly, nodding. Richie mouths a silent ‘okay’ when Eddie doesn’t elaborate, standing up and walking to the kitchen. Eddie seems almost catatonic as he fills up a glass of water, walking back to the couch and handing it to him.

Eddie takes a sip, rubbing at his eyes to get rid of the tears that were still lingering in his eyes. Richie waits patiently, watching as Eddie drinks half of the glass before lowering his hands, glass hovering above his lap.

“My mom called today-“ Eddie whispers, which alone was already enough for Richie to understand.

“Shit really?” He asks, and Eddie nods, slowly taking another sip.

“She uhm- one of her friends from church, I mean they’re not really friends, they just both hate others-“

“Enemy of my enemy is my friend?” Richie asks, and Eddie nods, sending him a grateful smile at that.

“Yeah that, but she found out that-... she found the photo on Facebook about… _us_ -“ Eddie mumbles, not really sure _how_ to explain, but it was enough. Richie’s eyes widens, suddenly everything all too clear, why Eddie was so distraught, what had happened, and _why_ that Facebook photo was so bad for Eddie.

And it didn’t take a genius for him to figure out that this ‘friend’ found out about the picture, connected the dots, and then told Eddie's mom.

“Shit Eds, I’m so sorry-” Richie whispers, but Eddie shook his head.

“It’s not your fault Rich-” Eddie says, but Richie frowns.

“I posted that picture, of us.” Richie says, glancing down at his lap. Because he did, he had been the one to take the picture of them together, and he has posted it. Eddie sighs, shifting until he was sitting on his knees, bringing a hand to Richie’s cheek.

“And I was okay with it, I could’ve made you delete it if I wanted to, but I didn’t. So it’s _not_ your fault.” Eddie says sharply, and Richie’s eyes search Eddie’s, trying to see if he was really okay with it, if he was telling the truth, but there was nothing but sincerity in Eddie’s eyes at the moment.

“I’m supposed to comfort you-” Richie frowns, and Eddie chuckles slightly.

“And how is that working out?” He challenges, and Richie grins, leaning forwards to kiss Eddie gently on the lips. Just for a second, breaking away quickly after.

“Is it working?” Richie asks, serious this time. Eddie sighs, leaning down on the back of his legs and shrugging.

“Surprisingly-” He mumbles, looking at Richie. “I just...I told you how my mom grew up in Derry and is against anything even remotely LGBTQ?”

“Not in detail but yeah-” Richie acknowledges, and Eddie blows out a scared breath.

“Now imagine her reaction to finding out her son has a boyfriend-” Eddie almost whispers, shaking his head. Richie stays silent, reaching out gently and taking Eddie’s hand but he waits for Eddie to continue. “She chewed me out for disgracing my dad’s memory, and told me I was going to hell if I didn’t fix it, and that she could cure me if I would just come home-”

“There’s nothing wrong with you Eds.” Richie frowns, but Eddie waves him off.

“She said the entire town was talking about it, and how California has corrupted me. She said I was brainwashed by all the ‘libtards’ who want to take her religion away from her, and destroy this great country.” Eddie says, and Richie snorts.

“Let me guess, she watches Fox News?” He asks, and Eddie doesn’t even deny it, because yes, she did. He sighs.

“I told her she was overreacting, and that there was nothing wrong with me, or you, but she started screaming about how the President was corrupting this whole country, and that all went to shit after he came to power. Started ranting about gay marriage becoming legal and parents pumping their kids full of hormones and shit-”

Richie doesn’t say anything, squeezing Eddie’s hand as he took a deep breath to continue. Richie could see how much the words of his mom hurt him, the pain in his eyes was all too clear.

“I mean I heard that all before so I.. I could just block it out, and I knew she would never accept my sexuality but then she started talking about you, all of you-” Eddie continues, and Richie gently reaches up to wipe at the tears. Eddie sniffles. “She started ranting about how Mike shouldn’t be allowed in school with me, calling him certain words-”

Richie’s eyes darkens at that, knowing fully well what Eddie was hinting at, and he felt hatred churn in his gut.

“Heck she even started ranting about Ben being a bad influence because of his weight, I mean have you seen her?” Eddie shouts.

“I would if you had shown me a picture-” Richie retorts, feeling like a joke he would otherwise make wasn’t appropriate right now. Not like that had stopped him before though. Eddie ignores the remark, taking a deep breath.

“She didn’t have anything bad about Bill though, he could never do anything wrong but then she started ranting about Stan, telling me he’s a filthy Jew, and that I can’t hang out with him-”

“She did some serious digging if she knows he’s Jewish.” Richie mumbles, and Eddie nods.

“She’s insane,” Eddie retorts, which was fair. “I mean she even started calling Bev a slut for the way she was dressed in that picture, and that she probably had many boyfriends-” Richie’s face twists with anger, knowing exactly what Eddie was trying to put so delicately, not wanting to repeat his mom’s exact words.

And yet he couldn’t feel too angry, could only feel sad for Eddie for having her as a mother. Richie didn’t know this woman.

“And me?” Richie just whispers, knowing that she must’ve said something.

“Called you slurs, the f word, said you were going to hell. And when I told her that meant I would be going too, she said I was just sick, and that I could get better, that you were corrupting me as well,” Eddie scowls, clearly revolted by her words.

“Because I clearly made you gay years before I even met you,” Richie responds dryly, and Eddie scowls.

“I mean she doesn’t know what the fuck she’s talking about, continued saying you were just with me because I was small and fragile, and that you were a pedophile because of that-”

“What the fuck? I’m younger than you are-” Richie counters, frowning deeply.

“I told her to shut up when she did, but she just continued about how she could fix me, and that I just needed to come home, that we could fix this together and that I would regret it if I-” Eddie stops, suddenly spotting something near the front door. His eyes widen. “Were you leaving?”

Richie glances at the door, spotting the suitcase near it. Richie chuckles slightly, turning back to Eddie.

“Not important Eddie, you need me more-” Richie says, but Eddie interrupts him with a loud groan, burying his face in his hands.

“Shit I’m sorry Richie, I should’ve asked you. You can go if you want to-” Eddie mumbles in his hands, but Richie shakes his head, grabbing both of Eddie’s wrists and prying them away from his face.

“No way, you’re more important right now, my parents can wait-” Richie says, and swallows thickly.

“You were going to your parents?” Eddie asks, and Richie sighs, nodding.

“Again, I can stay, you’re more important. I can just text them I’ll be later. I’m just going to visit them for the weekend-” Richie says again, and Eddie looks back at the suitcase again. Eddie had thought Richie would be free because it was Saturday morning, but apparently he wasn’t free.

Eddie groans, he should’ve called, he should’ve asked. He should’ve _known_.

“No it’s okay, I can ask Bill-”

“Eds,” Richie whispers, wiping away a single tear. “You wouldn’t have come here if Bill was home, it’s okay, I promise-” Richie says, fishing out his phone from his pocket and opening it, showing him a group chat with his parents, quickly typing ‘m a bit latr’.

“Your spelling is horrible.” Eddie mumbles softly, and Richie laughs, shoving the phone back in his pocket.

“Hey you are not disrespecting me in my own home,” Richie grins, poking Eddie’s side, who didn’t react. Richie gapes at him. “What is this trickery?” He gasps, and Eddie grins back with an evil look on his face.

“I’m immune-” Eddie teases back, reaching out and poking Richie’s side, who immediately giggles, moving away from the touch.

“Oh no you don’t!” Richie eyes widens, but Eddie charged already. “Eddie! Mercy!” Richie squeals, erupting in giggles as Eddie drags his fingers along his side, tickling him.

“Who’s Mercy?” Eddie counters, only letting up a second before attacking Richie’s sides again. Eddie tortures Richie for a few more minutes, before leaning back again with a contempt smile on his face. Richie breathes heavily, looking up at Eddie with a grin on his face as well.

Eddie leans forwards, kissing Richie softly, and the other boy grins into the kiss, lifting up slightly to meet with Eddie’s lips.

“Are you sure your parents are okay with you being late?” Eddie asks in between the kisses. Richie kisses back, opening his eyes.

“Eds I told you, it’s fine,” Richie says, kissing Eddie one last time before crawling upwards. “Why don’t you come with me?” He asks suddenly and Eddie frowns at that.

“With you? To your parents?” He asks, and Richie shrugs.

“Why not?” Riche counters, and Eddie leans back, unfolding his legs under him and sitting down normally.

“I mean would they be okay with that?” Eddie asks, and Richie smiles wildly.

“Are you kidding? Of course they would! They are excited to meet you anyways-” Richie says, and Eddie turn to him.

“They know about us?” He asks sharply, and Richie’s smile falters slightly.

“Shit did you want to keep that a secret?” Richie stumbles with his words slightly. “I told them about you when I met you, and when we kissed that night.” Richie hurriedly explains, and Eddie bites his lips.

“And they’re okay with it, with _us_?” Eddie asks, and Richie understands his fear.

“They are, they are really supportive,” Richie explains. “But shit Eds, I should’ve asked if you were okay with it, I’m sorry.” Richie says, but Eddie shakes his head.

“No it’s okay, I was just surprised. I guess I’m not used to parents being so accepting, but I guess that’s the curse of Derry,” Eddie breathes out.

“Plenty of homophobia here as well Eds-” Richie mentions, a dark look on his face, but he quickly shakes his head as if he was banishing something from his brain.

“But they’re okay with _us_?” Eddie asks again. “And they would be okay with me coming over?”

“Yes, and yes.” Richie grins brightly, kissing Eddie again. The smaller boy laughs at that.

“If you’re sure,” Eddie says, almost hesitantly. Richie grins.

“When am I ever?”

*

*

*

“Are you okay?” Richie asks, eyes not turning away from the road in front of him. Eddie swallows, glancing at Richie as he continued to drive. Who knew Richie would be the more relaxed and responsible driver of the two? Eddie had expected much worse when Richie told him he was driving to his parents.

But Richie was very responsible in his car, going the right speed, remembering to check all his mirrors constantly, and also rarely taking his eyes off the road. He was still playing horrible music, and singing along with whatever crappy 2010s song they were playing on the radio.

But Eddie hadn’t felt unsafe in the car once.

“Yeah I’m better, thanks for staying with me today,” Eddie says, smiling softly. “You’re sure your parents are okay with me coming? I mean shouldn’t I have at least bought something?” He asks, gnawing at his lip. Richie laughs, shaking his head.

“Nah they’re not like that, they don’t mind,” Richie waves off, finding Eddie’s hand absently. He could sense how tense Eddie was, which was more adorable than anything else. Eddie breathes out nervously, staring at the road until they eventually got off the highway, driving into a quiet neighbourhood.

It wasn’t even far from the campus, they had been driving for about half an hour now, but it seemed far out all the same. There was a quiet that Eddie hadn’t yet experienced in California that reminded him of Derry almost, except much more freeing and carefree as he glances outside.

“That was my high school-” Richie says, pointing to the big building on the right. Eddie glances at it, taking it in. “I mean some teachers were assholes but it was fine, most cared enough. And it was fun to see the few fuckers when I gave my valedictorian speech.”

“You were valedictorian?” Eddie gapes, and Richie chuckles.

“Don’t sound so shocked Eds,” He laughs, shaking his head. “I mean I did almost lose the title because of my attitude, which I know is super shocking. And I know my principle regretted vouching for me when I gave my speech.”

“That bad?” He asks, and Richie chuckles, taking a left turn.

“I dropped some F-bombs, pissed off some jocks by calling them out, but nothing _too_ bad.” Richie says, and Eddie rolls his eyes.

“Somehow I don’t think you’re the most reliable narrator-”

“Hey I was very loved at that school thank you very much,” Richie gapes, putting a hand on his chest. Eddie is silent for a moment, watching Richie turn right and driving into a quiet but lovely street.

“Were you out?” He asks softly, and Richie smiles softly.

“I mean I guess? I never really announced it, I think it was sophomore year when I got my first boyfriend, my class found out when I changed my profile picture,”

“And they were okay with that?” He asks, and Richie glances at Eddie quickly, careful not to look away from the road for too long.

“Most of them were yeah, I didn’t really have close friends there but everyone was friendly, and we got along well on a superficial level y’know? Except for Stan that is. I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t straight, so they didn’t mind as much luckily.” Richie explains, and Eddie nods absently.

“I mean there were a few assholes like Peter, Gard and Moose, they would make jokes about it, but never outright bully, and most didn’t like them either way, so they don't really have any power either.” Richie continues to explain, and Eddie frowns. It was weird hearing about Richie’s experiences.

He was glad that Richie’s high school experience was better than his. He only had to deal with some assholes, and not the Bower’s gang like Eddie had to. The whole town was terrified of that gang, and didn't dare to intervene. And while Eddie luckily wasn’t _hated_ by them, he still got some shit from them.

Eddie blinks as Richie turns left again, suddenly shutting off the car.

“We’re here-” Richie announces, glancing at Eddie. Eddie looks out of the car, looking at the house in front of him. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it seemed peaceful, cozy. Eddie smiles softly, getting out of the car and opening the back of the car to take Richie’s and his suitcase.

They had gone to Eddie’s dorm to get some stuff for the weekend, and Eddie was just glad he had a small suitcase he could borrow from Bill. Richie took his own suitcase, giving Eddie’s hand another squeeze as a reassurance, which Eddie greatly appreciated, he was still nervous about meeting Richie’s parents.

What if they didn’t like him? What if it was too soon? He only knew Richie for a few weeks now, what if they would criticise that?

He didn’t have much time to think about that as Richie opened the door, stepping into the house.

“Mom? Dad?” He asks, putting the suitcase down. Eddie carefully shut the door, following Richie as he walks into the living room.

“Richie!” A female voice says, and before Eddie knew it a woman walked over to him, hugging him.

“Mom!” Richie cries out, laughing in the hug.

“Oh and you must be Eddie, we heard so much about you,” Richie’s mom grins, turning to Eddie. He could see Richie blush at that, but Eddie ignored it, sticking out his hand.

“Hi Mrs Tozier, it’s nice to meet you,” Eddie says, but she laughs, going in for a quick hug.

“No need for formalities here Eddie, I was younger than you when Richie was born,” She says, pulling away from the hug, and Eddie couldn’t believe how much he missed it already, and he had to swallow thickly for a moment. “You can call me Maggie, or even mom if you wa-”

“Mom!” Richie interrupts her. “You broke him-” Richie continues, gesturing to Eddie, who was still standing there a little shell shocked. He scrapes his throat, shaking his head.

“No it’s alright, I was just a little surprised, sorry.” Eddie says sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. Richie’s mom smiles.

“That’s quite alright dear, much like Richie I can be a little over enthusiastic sometimes-” She laughs, nearly pinching her thumb and index finger together to put emphasis on the little.

“I’m used to that by now.” Eddie chuckles softly, glancing at Richie, who brightens at that.

“Do you want anything to drink Eddie? We weren’t sure what you wanted, so we got a few things-” Richie’s mom asks, turning around and gesturing for Eddie to walk with her to the kitchen. Eddie glances at Richie for a quick second, who just shakes his head with an amused smile, walking to the kitchen.

“Just a soda is okay.” Eddie says, and Richie hands him a cooled coke.

“So Eddie, what do you do in your daily life?” Richie’s mom asks, grabbing something to drink herself. Eddie studies Richie’s mom for a moment, but it was clear that Richie had inherited his mom’s personality, he couldn’t really see any similarities between their appearances.

His mother had long blond hair that lay flat on her head, and bright blue eyes.

“I’m studying to become a nurse actually, this is my first year.” Eddie says, taking a sip of his drink. Maggie smiles at that, glancing at Richie, who was staring at Eddie with a clear look of admiration on his face.

“So how did you two meet?” She asks instead, and she can’t help but snort at the way both of them turn red, and Richie cries out with a horrified tone. They both knew his mom was well aware of how they met.

And it only made Maggie laugh louder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Explicit talks about homophobic remarks; racism; anti-semitism, slutshaming, fatshaming.
> 
> (I don’t condone any of these things).
> 
> Also; I said no clowns in this story, so Obama is still president. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry that this took so long, I've been writing for another fandom lately which I'm really excited about but I'm also determined to finish this story, so I'll try to update quicker in the future!
> 
> Let me know what you guys think.

“Look on the bright side, it’s done,” Stan says, glancing at Bill, who groans loudly.

“I t-totally messed up that essay,” He says, throwing his head back.

“I thought you said it was going well?” Bev asks, sprawled over the couch with her feet up. Bill glances at her from his own spot on the couch, scooting downwards until he was pretty much laying down on the couch, shrugging.

“The b-beginnings aren’t hard, it’s the e-ending that sucks.” Bill explains, rubbing his face. “S-seriously I just c-can’t write endings.” Bev climbs up a little bit so she could look at Bill a little bit better.

“It can’t be that bad right? You still get high grades, and I rarely see you study much.” Bev argues, and Bill smiles softly, shrugging. Stan was the only one of them not sitting on the couch, instead having claimed a seat near them. It was a cold day outside, friday afternoon, so the Losers had decided to organise another movie night.

But so far only Bill had shown up at Stan’s and Richie’s house, even Richie himself wasn’t there yet. Which wasn’t really a surprise to any of them, Richie was _always_ late, even to exams apparently. How he was still in any of his courses was beyond any of them, even worse; how he still had such good grades.

“Y-Yeah but I get s-so many points off for my endings, and the g-grading gets a lot more stricter f-further into the year.” Bill points out, groaning again. “F-Fuck school-” He curses and Bev chuckles.

“Hell yes Bill, fuck school, fuck everyone-” Bev laughs, reaching out and giving Bill a fist bump, which he returned with a grin on his face.

“I’d rather not-” Stan mutters, and Bev glances at him, face softening slightly before Stan shakes his head. “That essay was good Bill, you will pass.” Stan changes the subject and Bill sighs in defeat almost, knowing he wasn’t going to get away with doubting himself with these two around.

Bill looks up when the door opens, Richie and Eddie walking in, laughing and grinning brightly.

“Did you bring the goods?” Bev asks, rolling off the cough and darting over to Richie.

“I am the goods Madame Marsh-” Richie retorts, throwing the bag over to her.

“Merci beaucoup Monsieur,” Bev shoots back, but she was already digging through the bag, pulling out several snacks like chips, cookies and more junk food.

“Oh Stan, is it okay if my parents visit next week?” Richie asks, falling on the couch and glancing at Stan. The other boy shrugs.

“Sure, when?” He asks.

“Friday, they’ll probably stay for dinner and then go home.” Richie says, putting his hands up to Bev, who quickly throws a bag of chips at him. Richie grins, digging through it.

“I’ll be sure to avoid the house-” Stan chuckles, and Richie grins.

“You’re the best Stanley,” He says, stuffing his mouth with the chips. “How did the essay go Bill?” He asks, and Bill groans loudly.

“Irrelevant.” He shoots back, and Richie chuckles slightly at that.

“I’m sure you did fine,” He says.

“That’s what I told him!” Bev exclaims, but she was distracted as the doorbell rings, which most likely meant that Ben and Mike were here.

“So which movie are we watching?” Eddie asks, making his way to the couch with a drink in his head, plopping down and leaning his back against Bill’s side, throwing his legs over Richie’s lap.

“We can watch that 1990 clown movie?” Richie suggest with a grin.

“I told you, no horror!” Eddie screeches, and Richie gives him an even brighter grin.

“So not your mom’s sex tape, sure.”

“I will end you Tozier!” Eddie says, handing the drink to Bill before launching himself at Richie.

“There’s a gremlin on me!” Richie cries out, laughing as he tries to fight off Eddie. “EEEEDSS!” He laughs, grinning sheepishly as Eddie sat down on top of him. Stan rolls his eyes.

“I sincerely hope this is not what you did at your parents’ home.” He retorts, and Mike chuckles almost hesitantly as he walks up to the Losers as well.

“Eddie met Richie’s parents?” He asks, and Stan nods.

“H-how are they w-willingly visiting after this w-weekend?” Bill chuckles, and Richie gapes at him.

“I have been betrayed by two Lose-” Richie gasps, stopping abruptly, head throwing back. “Nyahahaww- E-Eds!” Richie laughs as Eddie tickles his sides, Richie squirming under him, trying to wiggle out of the hold. Eventually Eddie lets up for a moment, glancing around the room, hands resting on Richie’s chest.

He could feel the rise of the chest beneath it, breathing heavily. He could feel Richie’s heart beating loudly beneath his hands, but he didn’t pay attention to it.

“Anyone object?” Eddie asks, and Richie gapes at that, turning to the other Losers with almost pleading eyes.

“Nope, go for it.” Bev giggles, arm wrapped around Ben’s waist. Richie gasps.

“Be-ahahahaah-” Richie cuts off the time, throwing his head back as Eddie attacks his sides. “Uncle! U-Uncle-” He gasps, and Bev chuckles, kissing Ben’s cheek.

“Not my name-” Eddie teases, and attacks Richie’s sides again.

“So what movie?” Stan instead asks, and Mike grabs the remote, throwing it at Stan for him to search through Netflix. He glances at Eddie and Richie, but quickly decided it wasn’t worth the spot on the couch, sitting on the ground instead. Bev and Ben had the same idea, also sitting on the ground, ignoring Richie’s squeals.

*

*

*

“Hey guys?” Stan asks softly, causing the other Losers to glance at Stan’s direction. But it was too dark to really make out Stan’s face. “How would you feel about Patty joining my birthday?” He asks, sucking in a nervous breath. Richie immediately squeals, jumping up from the bed he was sharing with Eddie

“You guys are official?” He asks excited, and Eddie groans as he sits on his legs in his excitement. It was already far past midnight, and none of them had any interest of going home still, even if it wasn’t far from Eddie’s and Bill’s home. Ben and Bev could take Bill’s bed, and Bill, Mike and Stan sleeping on the floor In Eddie’s room.

Eddie and Richie sharing his bed.

Stan looks up at Richie as much as he could in the darkness, nodding. “Two days now,” He says, causing Richie to squeal again. “But I don’t know if you are okay with it?” He asks, and Mike chuckles, ignoring Richie’s excitement.

“It is _your_ birthday Stan, you can invite her if you want.” Mike says, and Stan smiles softly, glancing in his direction at that.

“I w-would love to meet her,” Bill says, and Eddie smiles.

“Me too-“ Eddie says.

“Me three,” Richie grins, earning him a jab in the side, and he groans at that. “It’s too late for SM Eds, save that for tomorrow-“ Eddie jabbed his side again, and Richie grins through the darkness.

“Ignore that idiot, tell me more about her, Stan.” Eddie asks, and Stan turns around on his spot on the ground, turning onto his stomach.

“She’s really funny, the same humour as me-“

“So no humour at all?” Richie interrupts and Eddie scowls.

“Richie I will gag you-“ he hisses, which only makes Richie grin brighter.

“Kink- oof,” Eddie slams his pillow in Richie face, jumping on top of him to smother him with it. Richie mockingly cries out from under the pillow, but Eddie quickly shifts so he had his whole weight on top of him.

“Do continue Stan-“ Eddie deadpans, and Stan chuckles slightly. He was used to Richie’s antics after all.

“Well she’s really funny, and smart and she cares about others a lot. But she’s also very determined in the things she does,” Stan says, smiling to himself.

“Where is she from?” Mike asks, and Stan glances to the right to Mike.

“She grew up in Oregon but her parents are from Belgium, they moved when she was one years old.”

“S-So she’s bilingual?” Bill asks, but Stan shakes his head.

“Trilingual actually, her parents are from Wallonia but part of her family is from Flanders-” Stan says, glancing at Richie as a muffled sentence came from under the pillow. Eddie lifts it almost reluctantly.

“Thank you Eddie Spaghetti, now what I _wanted_ to say; I have no idea what that means Stanny.” Richie says, and Stan rolls his eyes.

“Flanders is the Northern part of Belgium, where they speak Dutch. Wallonia is in the south, and they speak French there-”

“They speak two languages in the country?” Eddie asks softly, and Stan chuckles.

“Well there’s also a German part, but she’s not fluent in German.”

“That’s impressive.” Mike comments, and Stan feels a sense of proud at the compliment.

“You sure know how to pick ‘em Stan,” Richie teases.

“S-She sounds awesome S-Stan, of course she can b-be there.” Bill says instead, taking the focus off Richie.

“I will.” Stan smiled.

*

*

*

“Richie?” Stan asks almost hesitantly, glancing up from his coffee cup as he watches Richie stroll into the room. “Are you okay?” He asks, watching the clear bags that were under his eyes, the tired look on his face, his slouched body. Richie ignores him, walking past him towards the fridge.

Stan sighs, putting the coffee down and walking over to the fridge, taking Richie’s wrist.

“Bad day?” He asks, and Richie sighs, nodding silently. “Do you want me to call your parents?” He asks and Richie frowns for a moment. It had already been a week since the sleepover, and his parents were supposed to come today after school. They had the key so Richie didn’t need to worry about that either.

And Stan would sleep over at Bill’s and Eddie’s place so Richie’s parents had a room for the night if they needed it. But it was clear that something was bothering Richie.

“No, I just had a nightmare,” Richie whispers, rubbing his face. Stan glances at him with worried eyes, knowing what the nightmare was about likely, though if he was right, then Richie would want to see his parents. Not like he couldn’t help Richie, but they were his parents, it made sense.

“Get a shower, I’ll make pancakes,” Stan offers, glancing at the clock to see if they had enough time but Stan was usually up early, and the only reason Richie was up now was because he couldn’t sleep. Richie sighs, nodding and walking back to his room to gather some things.

Stan watches him with a concerned gaze, pulling out his phone and opening his chat with Bev.

_Stan - It’s a bad day._

He keeps it short, knowing that Bev didn’t need much else. He puts the phone back in his pocket again, rummaging through the kitchen to grab everything he needed for pancakes. He could hear the water running in the bathroom, and for once no singing came from it, just silence.

He would always complain about the noise, but every time Richie got in these moods, he would miss it. Stan sighs, he just hoped the nightmare wasn’t _too_ bad. Eventually Richie came out of the bathroom, hair dripping but seemingly a bit more awake than before, and a little bit of colour was back.

“Better?” Stan asks as Richie sits down on the chair, putting the plate in front of him. Richie shrugs, which was enough for Stan to understand that the nightmare had been bad, but not _too_ bad. He would need to be careful today.

“Sorry-” Richie mumbles as he takes his first bite but Stan shakes his head.

“Don’t be, I get it.” He waves off, walking off to get ready for school already, walking into Richie’s room to pick his as well. He threw some stuff in the laundry basket, opening a window to let some air through as Richie slowly ate his breakfast. He never had much of an appetite on such days.

But they both learned the hard way that Richie still needed to eat, even when he wasn’t hungry.

Richie wordlessly put the plate back on the counter, and Stan didn’t comment on the only half-eaten pancake. He just grabs the plate, tossing the rest away and washing the dishes quickly. They worked silently, luckily getting ready for school on time, and they both made it to school on time.

Bev wordlessly meets them at the entrance, wrapping a quick hug around him, that Richie silently accepts.

“It’s today, isn’t it?” She whispers, and Richie nods in her embrace. “Are your parents still coming?” She asks, and Richie nods again. Bev sighs, rubbing his back. She didn’t need to know much else, all three of them knew what today was, and why it was _today_ that Richie would have a bad day.

Or why it was today that his parents came to visit him.

“I can skip if you want me to okay?” Bev asks as she pulls out of the hug, glancing up at him. Richie shudders slightly, breathing in shakily before grinning softly.

“I’ll be okay m’lady, don’t ya worry about old me.” Richie says, but despite his cheery tone, Bev could still hear the underlying sadness.

“I’ll see you at lunch okay?” She asks, and Richie nods. Bev knew that she had to listen to Richie when he got like this, he would only hide himself more if she didn’t, especially today. She had to give him space, even if it was hard to do.

“Don’t be an idiot today-” Stan says, and Richie chuckles.

“Aren’t I always?” He says, and Stan rolls his eyes, lingering for a few more seconds before he too had to get to his own class, leaving Richie alone. The day seemed to last long, almost too long, but eventually Richie made his way over to the cafeteria, where some Losers were already having lunch.

Richie glances around the room, trying to spot them, and he quickly did in the corner of the room. Bev was sitting next to Ben of course, talking with Eddie. Or rather, Eddie seemed to be ranting about something, an annoyed expression on his face. Stan was listening too, and the rest wasn’t here yet.

Richie sighs, walking over to the table and sitting down on th empty seat besides Eddie.

“What are we talking about?” He asks, ignoring the glance Stan gave him.

“My mom-” Eddie groans loudly. “I don’t even know _how_ she did it but she’s fucking insane, I didn’t even tell her what University I was going to but she found out, _and_ called to get my dorm number, and now she’s been harassing Bill for the past two days, and sending shit to our house.”

Eddie ranted, and Richie nods slightly, not really hearing it.

“And I already blocked her number on my phone but she just got another number or something, and she’s been calling me non-stop now, and the one time I did answer the phone to tell her to stop she threatened to fly out here and drag me back to Derry herself-”

“Which she can’t do Eddie, you’re 19 now. You’re an adult.” Ben points out, but Eddie just groans.

“I know she can’t, but she can still try, and that’s what I’m worried about. I don’t want her to make a scene here, I don’t even want to see her.” Eddie rants. “I mean what if I see her and I...I don’t know, what if I think she’s right? What if she changes my mind?” Eddie whispers, a little more vulnerable.

“Are you doubting your decision?” Bev asks softly, no judgement in her voice. Eddie groans again, tucking at his hair.

“No of course not- I.. I don’t know okay?” Eddie stammers, voice rising again. “I don’t know what to think, I hate her, and I hate her for what she did to me but she’s still my mom, she’s all I have left and I just want to get along. Is that so much to ask for?” He asks and Bev reaches out for his hand, shaking her head.

“Of course not Eddie, that’s normal. But you also have to realise that what she did, as much as I know of it, isn’t okay.” Bev tries, and Eddie can feel tears brimming in his eyes. He can feel frustration boiling in his stomach, anger at Bev’s words even though he _knew_ she was right, and that she was helping him.

He shouldn’t feel angry, he shouldn’t be angry at Bev when she was only trying to help, but he did, and it only made him feel worse.

“I know that Bev, I know what she did was fucked up. But I _want_ us to get along, I don’t want to- I don’t know Bev, I know it’s difficult for you as well but you have someone that cares about you, and the rest has nice parents as well and I’m the only one that’s fucked up-” Eddie murmurs.

Bev glances at Richie for a quick moment, but turns to Eddie again. She hadn’t exactly told Eddie everything, but he knew that her dad wasn’t kind to her, and that she had been taken in by her aunt.

“You’re not fucked up Eddie-” Ben tries, which seems to be the wrong thing to say.

“But I am Ben! I am fucked up, my mom is fucked up and so am I. She’s still in my head, that whole fucking town is. I grew up in fucking Derry, not California like you did-” Eddie continues, nudging Richie’s side.

“Huh?” He asks, and Eddie sees red.

“You weren’t listening?!” He asks in disbelief, anger boiling, already opening his mouth.

“You’re not the only one dealing with shit Eddie, some of us have problems as well-” Richie retorts.

“Like what? You have a perfect life, you have friends, good grades, loving parents-” Eddie starts but Richie stands up before Eddie could finish the sentence.

“It’s not only about you Eddie-” Richie bites back, grabbing his back and storming out of the cafeteria.

“Richie, wait!” Bev yells, jumping up and running after him. “Richie!’ She yells, barely catching him before he exited the entire building. Richie whirls around, and Bev can already see tears brimming in his eyes.

“Richie-”

“I know Bev, I know I shouldn’t have snapped at him” Richie interrupts her, throat closing up. “Just… I can’t be here right now okay? I just can’t.. not today.” Bev’s face softens

“Do you want me to go with you?” Bev asks softly, but Richie shakes his head.

“Just tell Eddie I’m sorry, it wasn’t his fault. I just… I just can’t.. not today.” Richie whispers, and Bev bites her lip, nodding.

“Be safe.” Bev whispers, giving him a quick hug before letting go. Richie stared at Bev for a second before turning around, walking out of the building. Everything spun around him, people walking by, talking, laughing, but he couldn’t understand it, couldn’t understand what he was saying.

He stumbles, blinking heavily. He just walks, hands clammy with sweat, and he feels chills racing through his body, chest heaving. Someone was laughing, but he could only focus on the pain in his chest, his heart trying to beat itself out of his ribcage, breaking through the skin because it wanted _out_.

His skin prickled, protesting against the wind. He just stumbled to his apartment complex, ignoring the looks of everyone, they all stared at him, ready to attack. Richie shuddered, shaking his head. _No no no_ , they wouldn’t, they wouldn’t, they were just confused, they didn't want to.

“Richie?” He heard softly, and Richie whimpers, feelings hands on his shoulders, pulling him in. He heard something close, a door? He couldn’t understand. “Richie, sweetie listen to me, you’re having a panic attack okay? You’re in your dorm, your dad is here and-”

Richie whimpers, a distressed noise escaping his throat and trying to tug away.

“Maggie… confusing…. more-” He could only make out parts, and he slaps his hands over his ears, whimpering. He felt more hands on him, gentle hands, not hurting him. Richie opens his eyes in panic, seeing his mom’s face, who was smiling softly.

“Sweetie listen … voice, you… safe, nobody…. going to hurt... But I need you to breathe, can you do that?” Her voice was steady, and Richie gasps, nodding. He tries, sucking in a breath and releasing it, but it seemed enough for his mom, who nodded in encouragement.

“That’s it sweetie, just like that, you can do it.” She murmurs, and Richie grasps for the hand that had settled on his chest, grabbing it tightly. He could feel his heart pound, and he shuddered.

“Woah!” His dad suddenly cries out, and Richie flinches when he feels more hands on him, gently lowering him to the ground. “Just breathe chum, we’re here, you’re safe-” His dad murmurs, and Richie leans forwards, not listening to them, he couldn’t comprehend what they were saying.

Could only focus on their presence and just _trying_ to breathe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: panic attacks
> 
> TW: Talk about abusive mother

**Author's Note:**

> TW: underage drinking
> 
> Also; I felt so weird writing that scene in the coffeeshop, that’s what we call the stores that sell weed in the Netherlands. (Which was interesting to begin with, I did _not_ get the appeal of coffee shop AUs for the longest time.
> 
> Also, Richie is a dork, not a bad boy.


End file.
